What are your rights when you’ve paid for parking but you still get a ticket?

What are your rights when you’ve paid for parking but you still get a ticket?

Stephen Jones from Solihull contacted me this week about a parking ticket he has been disputing under circumstances that are sounding all too familiar, as lots of people have contacted me over the past six months about the same issue.

Parking ticket issues

Stephen was shocked to find a parking ticket on his windscreen at a private car park after paying for his bay – and he’s far from alone. So what can you do about it?

Stephen parked his car in the town within a ‘pay and display’ area. He didn’t have any change so he used the telephone payment service via his mobile phone, which was advertised on the side of the pay meter.

During the call, he gave the location he was parked at, his number plate and payment information and then went about his day. However, two hours later he returned to his car to find a parking ticket stuck to his windscreen. Naturally, Stephen telephoned the company to ask why he had received a ticket. He was told that the number plate he had given over the telephone did not match the number plate of his vehicle that had received the ticket. It transpired that he had got the last two letters the wrong way around.

Stephen appealed the ticket and was shocked when he was informed that the independent adjudicator had found against him, stating “the onus was on Mr Jones to ensure that the details he gave about his vehicle were correct”.

I’ve heard similar stories from other readers

Sally from Kent had forgotten to change her vehicle details on her telephone payment account, Graham from Oxford entered the wrong location code and Fran from Kettering accidentally paid for the following day. They all received a parking ticket.

So, should you have to pay a parking fine when you genuinely paid for a ticket but typed an error by mistake?

In my opinion no and here’s why:

The land owner/council are not out of pocket as payment for the ticket was made;

The obligation (under most terms and conditions of parking I have seen) is to pay a certain amount for a specified time – there is often no requirement to get all of the information correct when you pay remotely or a penalty for failing to do so.

If they want to impose a penalty in these circumstances the operator should make this clear on the side of the parking meter and on an automated message when you call to purchase your ticket. Hopefully, someone will take the fight to court sometime soon.

"We are an independent 'not for profit' and impartial organisation that specialises in resolving consumer disputes"

As of July 2017, Consumer Dispute Resolution Limited (“CDRL”) has resigned its membership with Ombudsman Association. CDRL operates four alternative dispute resolution schemes:

The Retail Ombudsman

AviationADR

UtilitiesADR

CommsADR

CDRL had aspirations to expand its ADR offering, under The Retail Ombudsman brand into sectors beyond high street and online retail. However, last year Ombudsman Association introduced a rule that it would only allow one ‘ombudsman’ scheme per sector which meant that CDRL would not be able to continue its expansion plans as an ombudsman. Naturally, CDRL had to respect this decision.

At the start of 2017 CDRL started the process of launching UtilitiesADR and CommsADR as non-ombudsman schemes. CDRL’s aviation scheme, approved by the Civil Aviation Authority, was then transitioned to a non-ombudsman scheme. The final step has been to transition the retail scheme, which has now been finalised and as part of this the scheme name has been changed from The Retail Ombudsman to RetailADR.

The Retail Ombudsman scheme has been a very big success and has attracted many big High Street and online brands as members. All these brands have agreed to continue to work with RetailADR, in recognition of the efficient, cost effective ADR service it provides.

The decision to transition from ombudsman to non-ombudsman has been taken entirely by CDRL and has been made to allow the continued growth of our very successful ADR model, which has benefited and will continue to benefit both consumers and traders. Government therefore did not withdraw CDRL’s right to use the ‘ombudsman’ title and the relevant competent authorities, that authorise CDRL under The Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Amendment) Regulations 2015 have been supportive of the transition.

For more Information or to submit a new claim please visit our website:www.cdrl.org.uk

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